"What'd I Say" is a song by American rhythm and blues (R&B) musician
Ray Charles, released in 1959 as a single divided into two parts. It
was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charles, his orchestra,
and backup singers had played their entire set list at a show and still
had time left; the response from many audiences was so enthusiastic
that Charles announced to his producer that he was going to record it.
After his run of R&B hits, this song finally broke Charles into
mainstream pop music and itself sparked a new sub-genre of R&B titled
soul, finally putting together all the elements that Charles had been
creating since he recorded "I Got a Woman" in 1954. The gospel
influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not
only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black
audiences. It earned Ray Charles his first gold record and has been one
of the most influential songs in R&B and rock and roll history. For the
rest of his career, Charles closed every concert with the song. It was
added to the National Recording Registry in 2002 and ranked at number
10 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27d_I_Say>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1772:
Under the command of explorer James Cook, HMS Resolution set sail from
Plymouth, England, along with HMS Adventure.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Resolution_%281771%29>
1787:
The Northwest Ordinance was passed by the Congress of the
Confederation, creating the Northwest Territory as the first organized
territory of the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory>
1793:
Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the
French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday>
1830:
The Scottish Church College, the oldest continuously running Christian
liberal arts and sciences college in India, was founded as the General
Assembly's Institution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Church_College%2C_Calcutta>
1863:
Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws
passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the
ongoing American Civil War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Draft_Riots>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
divest (v):
1. (archaic) To remove all of one's clothing; to strip.
2. To strip, deprive, or dispossess oneself of something (such as a
right, passion, privilege, or prejudice)
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/divest>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
O how I feel, just as I pluck the flower
And stick it to my breast — words can't reveal;
But there are souls
that in this lovely hour
Know all I mean, and feel whate'er I feel.
--John Clare
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Clare>